Peter SAUNDERS ¹²⁵

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Occupation: Shipwright: St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. ¹²⁵

2. Residence: 3 Saunders Place, Carter's Hill area: St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. ¹²⁵ Based of the 1800 Census of Ferryland District, we know that the family of the widowed Daniel Sanders/ Saunders consisted of two sons, Robert and William, and one daughter, your ancestor, Ann Saunders Morry. In 1818, when part of the old Carter family property at Aquaforte was subdivided, only two heirs, Robert and Ann were recorded as being present for this transaction. Family researchers deemed that William's absence likely meant that he had died sometime between 1800 and 1818. However, I usually indicate that such absences could mean the individual had died, or moved. The record that lead me to consider the latter was the record in the BDM database which shows that a William Saunders, aged 87, formerly of Ferryland, had died at St. John's in 1877. By calculation, this indicates that William was born there about 1790. The 1800 Census for the settlement of Ferryland shows that William, son of Daniel, was born there about 1789, so he was the most likely match within the Sanders families living there. In the St. John's newspapers, no religious affiliation is given for William but it is noted his funeral would take place from Theatre Hill.

A further search of the BDM database identified that Margaret Saunders, aged 75, who died 27 June 1883. It states that she was the widow of the late Capt. William Saunders, "formerly" of Ferryland. Her home address in St. John's was 239 Gower Street. With a bit of research, I found that William Saunders' address in Lovell's and McAlpine's business directories was actually 239 Gower St. He was listed as being a carpenter/ship carpenter so it is rather curious that there is a couple of references to William as being a Captain. Apparently the now defunct Theatre Hill was near the bottom of Long's Hill and at the junction of what was then Gower St and Queen's Road. This intersection was likely changed after the fire of 1892 and I have yet to find a pre-1892 map which shows the actual old street configuration.

Now we know that the Saunders of Ferryland were Anglican, but my search of Forest Road and the General Protestant cemeteries found no one matching William and Margaret. I did however find them buried at Belvedere Cemetery indicating that this Saunders family had converted to Catholicism at some point in time . The headstone in Belvedere reads as follows:

rdrdashrdrw30 rdrdashrdrw30 rdrdashrdrw30 rdrdashrdrw30 rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs ntbl Saunders William June 17, 1878 77 Capt, erected by son Peter Saundersrdrdashrdrw30 rdrdashrdrw30 rdrdashrdrw30 rdrdashrdrw30 rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs rdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrsrdrw15rdrs ntbl Margaret June 5, 1883 73
Unfortunately, this headstone is not photographed on NGB, Find-a-Grave. In Stonepics only Margaret's (1883) name is listed. Of course with The Rooms closed I can't verify what is inscribed on the headstone. While Margaret's age is within two years of the age reported in the newspapers, William's age differs by 10 years!! It was shown in the FHSNL collection (below) and while that record indicates that William was 77, it gives his death year as 1879 !!




I am in the process of going through all of the St. John's RC marriages and baptisms. I have found 3 baptisms so far in the Basilica records plus I also know there was also Peter and John in the family. William's wife was named Margaret Bradshaw. I did not find out where they married and thought it a little odd that Bradshaw would be a Catholic surname. However, the Bradshaws of the Placentia Bay area were likely CE, then RC. One of them was a J.P.

I have been able to find a number of references to their sons Peter and John. Peter lived in the Carter's Hill area where he eventually lived at #3 Saunders Pl. He was usually listed as a shipwright. John lived in the old family house at 239 Gower St. and he was listed as a ship carpenter. After the fire of 1892 he may have lived elsewhere in the city. Both of these sons eventually moved out of Newfoundland. Peter was married twice and he and his second wife moved to Montreal in 1906. He died there in 1917. John and his entire family moved to Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia in 1900.

Given the limited information available, the big stumbling block is the accuracy of William's age at his time of death. If this William was 87 years old when he died, I would say definitely that he was the son of Daniel. However, if he was only 77, as his headstone indicates, then he would likely be a grandson of John and Catherine Saunders. I'll keep on digging - maybe I get lucky.

Peter married Anastasia BARRY on 24 Feb 1862 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.⁸⁵⁶¹ (Anastasia BARRY was born circa 1830 in Waterford, Munster, Ireland,¹²⁵ died on 3 Jan 1903 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ¹²⁵ and was buried after 3 Jan 1903 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ¹²⁵.)

Peter next married Katherine HAYSE on 20 Nov 1904 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. (Katherine HAYSE was born circa 1854.)